Colorwork Knitting – Scandinavian Knitting – Things I Have Learned

Nordic or Scandinavian knitting is known for its beautiful colorwork knitting. The motifs are often inspired by nature like the very commonly used snowflake you can see in the image below.

I read somewhere that Norwegians mostly knit with two different colors while Swedish and Finnish knitters usually use three or even more colors when they knit. I am not sure if that is accurate but at least the motifs seem to be quite similar in Scandinavian knitting patterns in general.

These last years, actually through my husband that is from Colombia, I have gotten more into the Scandinavian motifs as I knit. He has pointed out how unique the motifs are and that has also made me more aware of what makes Scandinavian knitting patterns stand out.

So throughout the last few years, I have tried some Scandinavian knitting patterns with beautiful colorwork but to be honest, it hasn’t been without its challenges. I am still learning.

There are a few things that I have learned about colorwork knitting as I have tried it, and I thought I could share them with you so that you can learn from my mistakes and not make them yourself.

Things I Have Learned When Knitting Colorwork Projects

1. Choose Yarns With Greater Contrast in Colors

I think one of the first things I learned when I knitted my first few colorwork projects was that it’s better to choose yarns that aren’t too close to each other in color and shade. Sometimes I think, I don’t know if this is a Scandinavian thing, but sometimes I want to choose colors that aren’t too great in contrast. I know I won’t wear something that is too colorful so that is why I tend to opt for more subtle colors.

But, I have learned that if the colors are too similar you can’t really see the motifs clearly and the whole point of knitting with motifs is that the motifs should be clear so I have had to redo a project just to make the motif more noticeable. And redoing projects is no fun!

So now I choose greater contrast when I pick color combinations for knitting projects. But that doesn’t mean that it has to be super colorful. What I do many times to not make the knitting projects too colorful for my taste is to mix in some white or gray or other more “neutral” colors in the mix. I usually pick one brighter color and mix it with more subtle colors.

2. Look At The Yarns In The Window Of The Yarn Shop

Another thing I have learned, very connected to the last thing, is to look at the shades of the yarns I plan to buy for a project in the daylight of the window in the yarn store before I buy them.

Just this last November, I bought yarn for the Christmas stockings I published on the website (https://underbartskapad.com/nordic-christmas-stocking-free-knitting-patterns/) and I had to go back to the store to change the colors just because the shades look so different in daylight compared to the warm light in the yarn shop.

So, always look at the yarns you want to buy in the daylight from the window before you buy them.

3. Use Yarns Of the Same Thickness in Colorwork Patterns.

One time I knitted a pair of mittens with really thick yarn and the thickness between the two different yarns I used were just slightly different. This was one of the first projects I knitted with a more typical Scandinavian motif and I thought it wouldn’t matter much that the yarns didn’t have the exact same thickness.

I did finish that project but still to this day when I see the mittens I regret that I used yarns of two different thickness, because you can see them and the mittens don’t look so “professionally” made because of it.

4. Weave In The Yarn You Aren’t Knitting With

One things I learned this last year is to weave in the yarn that you aren’t knitting with is the motif that you are knitting has sets of stitches with the same color of yarn that are longer than 4 stitches in a row.

I feel like I should have learned this so much earlier but I have knitted three Christmas stockings before and I have always just had to deal with long strands of yarn on the inside of the stockings that aren’t really practical.

I took a picture of the Christmas stockings I knitted a few years ago to show you what I mean.

The stocking to the left is the one I knitted a few years ago, I had to cut the strings of yarn and tie them to get rid of the longest ones. The stocking to the right was knitted last year, still not perfect but much better.

This last year, I saw a video of someone explaining how to twist the yarn every 3-4 stitches so that you won’t have the problem of long strings of the yarn you aren’t knitting with. There are many video tutorials on YouTube on how to do that if you are interested.

5. Don’t Twist The Yarn At The Same Place Every Row

And when you learn a new thing, you learn that there is a better way to do it. What I learned is to not twist the yarn in the same spot every row. If you twist the yarn in the same place every row it will be more visible.

So if you are working with a motif that has a greater area in the same color, make sure to vary where you twist the “background” yarn.

More Knitting Inspiration

So those were a few things that I have learned as I have been knitting some Scandinavian colorwork motifs these last years.

I have never been very good at taking time to read instructions before I do something. Same thing with knitting. I hardly have the patience to read through the knitting patterns before I start knitting. That makes me more prone to make mistakes and learn things the hard way.

But I hope that this blog post may spare you from some mistakes. But also, knitting is supposed to be fun so don’t forget to improvise and learn by experimenting.

I hope you are having a really nice winter with lots of knitting! Here is what’s on my needles right now:

I will share more about that in another blog post.

Be blessed and hope to see you again soon!